Lompolo – A Name Shaped by Nature
Welcome to the Soma Adventures blog!
Let’s begin with Lompolo.
Lompolo is a beautiful and peaceful wilderness village, located about 35 minutes (35 km) from Levi. The journey is short, but once you arrive, you step into a completely different world.
The name Lompolo itself has a meaning: it refers to a widening of a river. On the map it appears as a lake, but when you look more closely, you’ll notice rivers flowing out in both directions—and during the ice-free season, you can even see the current moving through the center. So is it a lake, or is it actually a river? Perhaps a little of both. These small details are part of what makes Lompolo so fascinating.
From Home Village to the Heart of Our Safaris
Lompolo became the main location for Soma Adventures safaris for a very natural reason: it is my home village. I grew up here, spending my childhood and youth in Lompolo—and I am incredibly grateful for that. As a child, I was free to simply be a child: playing with other village kids, moving freely in nature, and growing up in an environment where nature played a central role—and still does.
My father still lives in Lompolo with his family. My official home today is in Kittilä, but right next to my childhood home, on the shore of Lake Suksijärvi, stands our cabin. This is our base camp—Soma Hide Out.
An extraordinary place by a small wilderness lake, surrounded by silence and nature, completely at peace.
Deep Roots and a Long History
During the summers, I guide trips and sightseeing tours that include, among other things, visits to local churches. Through this work, I’ve also explored historical church records—and with them, the history of Lompolo.
As early as the 1500s, Lompolo–Tepasto was the first known inhabited area in the Kittilä region. According to the records, there were five Sámi dwellings in the area, and settlement followed a seasonal rhythm—people moved in and out of the village according to the time of year and the needs of life. The roots of this village run deep into Lapland’s history.
A road to Lompolo was not built until 1959, when President Urho Kekkonen visited the village and asked the locals what they wished for most. The answer was simple: a road. And soon after, a road was built.
Before that, the village was reached by horse, reindeer, or by traveling along the river. My own grandmother delivered mail as a young girl—by reindeer. The same river once served as a travel route during the gold rush, when people journeyed toward the gold fields near Ivalo.
Lompolo was long very isolated—and that isolation turned out to be a blessing. During the Lapland War in the autumn and early winter of 1944, the village was spared from destruction, as no road led here at the time.
Life Then and Now
When I was in primary school, more than 100 people lived in Lompolo. Today, the village is home to around 55 locals and serves as a holiday home for many others. In my childhood, the village had my grandmother’s shop, my mother’s village bar, our family-run accommodation business Lompolon Majat, as well as a post office and a maternity clinic. There was even a taxi—run by my grandfather.
Today, Lompolo is just as beautiful and magical, but shared by fewer people. The distances to school and grocery stores have grown, with Levi now about a 30-minute drive away. Still, Lompolo is very much home—and also home to approximately 6,500 reindeer, which is always a fun fact to share with you, our dear guests.
Welcome to Lompolo
Lompolo is the heart and soul of Soma Adventures.
This is where everything begins—the stories, the journeys, and the experiences we want to share with you.
Welcome to Lompolo.
We are waiting for you.
